THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: July 2022 (Page 7 of 8)

DOKKEN – Erase The Slate

July 5, 2022 /

This is the only Dokken album to feature Reb Beach on guitar. The band sort of split in ’89 as Don and George Lynch hated each other. They buried that hatchet (not in each other’s head) and got back together to record Dysfunctional and Shadowlife. Then, George had enough again and moved on, and Reb was brought in.

This is one of the best Dokken albums, as not only does Reb play some killer guitar, but he breathes new life into the band and the songs are really good. The opening and title track is a typical Dokken uptempo rocker with Reb just ripping it up. Change The World has a great groove and main riff, the hook and chorus are so cool. Mad Hatter is another four to floor rocker with a standard Dokken riff, but the chorus and hook are just fantastic, and the solo is insane. Drown slows the pace down with an evil riff, and a killer funky choppy groove. Side 1 closes out with Shattered and it’s a heavy power ballad; the middle eight solo is awesome.

One gets Side 2 under way with an amazing cover of the Harry Nilsson track. I like when bands do unusual choices for covers. Who Believes is ballad city, and is lifted greatly by some Reb Beach wizardry. Awesome intro to Voice Of The Soul that drops into the huge main riff. Crazy Mary Goes Round is such fun track and has drummer Mick Brown on vocals. Haunted Lullabye is a slow brooding rocker with a very cool riff, and I love the solo. The album closes out with In Your Honour and it’s ballad city with a very Beatles sounding middle section. Great album and often overlooked when talking about Dokken albums.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

L.A. GUNS – s/t

July 5, 2022 /

I think we all now that Guns N’ Roses was the coming together of Traci Guns and Axl Rose, right? So, that didn’t work out and Guns left to form LA Guns. Simple, right?

I loved Girl and I thought Phil Lewis was a great frontman. I was shocked to see him pop up in LA and fronting this band. But, when the needle drops and No Mercy kicks in it all makes sense. He obviously found the right band with the same tastes as himself, as this is Girl on steroids. In fact, they recorded a killer version of Girls’ Hollywood Tease for this album. The vibe is a sleazy glam fest but with a harder edge, and this album rocks hard compared to say Faster Pussycat. The highlights are opener No Mercy, Bitch Is Back which is very Guns N’ Roses in style (I wonder if this is a track that Traci brought over?), and my favourite Hollywood Tease; a great song and I suggest you track down the original. Still enjoy playing this album.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VAN HALEN – 5150

July 4, 2022 /

I’ll get this out of the way, I’m not the biggest Sam The Sham fan for numerous reasons that I won’t get into here. The first six VH albums are classics. They had that edge that made them unique, and every rock band that came out after ’78 wanted to be them. So, when I heard Dave had left the band to be… well, Dave, I was soooo disappointed. When Hagar was announced as the new singer it felt like someone had stolen my favourite thing and got away with it.

As soon as the needle drops and you hear that stupid “Hellooooo Baby”, you know it’s all over. Musically I like Good Enough, as it feels old VH and the band sound tight, especially Alex’s drums that sound so good. Get Up is really good and Ed’s playing is epic (as it usually is). I like the main riff to 5150 and the breakdown in Summer Nights is really cool, but that’s it for me. Nearly all the other tracks just sound like some other corporate rock act of the day and that edge they had is gone. The Inside is ruined by dipstick’s attempts at being Dave, and failing miserably. It got even worse after this album, as what I loved so much had gone.

7/10 from the Grooveman.

CROBOT – Something Supernatural

July 4, 2022 /

For some reason I always think these guys are from deep down in the southern US, when in fact they are from Pennsylvania. This is the band’s debut album, released on Wind Up records in 2014. They live in that very retro rock groove space; with the emphasis on the groove. The nucleus of the band is vocalist Brandon Yeagley and guitarist Chris Bishop; Yeagley has one hell of voice. They sort of remind you of everybody and nobody at the same time, if that makes sense.

This is a great album for a debut and the first three tracks, Legend Of The Spaceborne Killer, Nowehere To Hide, and The Necromancer are all high octane uptempo groovers with great riffs and epic vocals. The pace and groove slow down for Le Mano De Lucifer, with a very dirty retro almost Sabbath-style riff, but what a killer vocal. Skull Of Geronimo starts with some nice squealing guitar until we settle down with a slow brooding heavy groover. Side 1 ends with Cloud Spiller a very heavy funk riff with a great hook and melody.

Fly On The Wall kicks off Side 2 and the funk vibe continues with a massive riff but with a slower groove. Next up, Night Of The Sacrifice has that early seventies Sly Stone vibe, but heavier. Chupacabra is more of the same; they have found that groove and they’re sticking to it. Wizards has a very heavy psych groove going on. The last track, Queen Of The Night, is the only song with a change of dynamic; adding a bit of light and shade. I maybe would have placed it in the middle somewhere. Great debut album!!!

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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